Monday, February 26. 2007

Izzy has a post venting his frustrations with companies that don't know how to ship to Alaska. I can relate. Since moving to Alaska in 1999, I've had my share of frustrations with companies that a) have to have it explained to them that sending USPS to Alaska doesn't cost any more (because they try to charge you more for USPS shipments to Alaska); 2) say they ship to the "continental" United States, but they exclude Alaska, that "Yes, Alaska is on the Continent," or 3) charge simply exorbitant rates for shipping a small item (oh, say a computer part) up here.

Example: Amazon
Amazon sells packs of Seventh Generation diapers* for two to three dollars less than our local Fred Meyer. Problem? Amazon classifies diapers as "grocery items," so they do not ship them to Alaska. When I inquired about this, they said that due to some items being larger, the shipping cost is too high. Hmm...really? How about putting it in a USPS box, and slapping a label on it? I don't care if it has to come fourth class, I believe (but could be wrong) there are classes of postal mail that are the same cost whether you ship them across town or across the nation.

*Yes, we usually use cloth diapers (see Blueberry Baby. But Elizabeth wears disposables to bed so she doesn't soak through when she sleeps all the way through the night, and Jonathan still wears them because cloth diapers would be extremely messy at this stage (he's exclusively breast fed, so there is, shall we say, nothing solid coming out).

Example: 1800diapers.com
Similar story: shipping to Alaska costs too much. Well, maybe, but I bet that even with shipping we could match the price we'd get up here. Which would be fine when Fred Meyer is out of what we need (which they have a scary propensity to be).

Example: Most online computer parts stores
Pick just about any online tech store (some notable exceptions, see below) and you'll pay as much or more in shipping than the item cost (for small items, of course). When you want to buy a $30 mouse, and shipping is $40, it kind defeats the point.

Example: Companies that don't know about ground service
Often, when greeted with high shipping prices, I suggest to the store's feedback center that they look into shipping via UPS Ground or FedEx Ground. I get a range of response. "We can't do that." Huh? "Our system isn't set up to handle that." Hmm...need a better system. "FedEx doesn't offer ground service." Wow, either they really don't know what they're talking about, or their FedEx account representative needs to be, shall we say, reeducated. And as much as I hate to use them, there always is the option of the United States Postal Service. They're usually pretty cheap (often with service to match), and they usually get the job done.

Example: Most small companies
It seems that smaller companies are the ones that are the worst offenders, and I suppose it's not really their fault. Either their low shipping volume, or their lack of account with a shipper (shipping items one at a time) causes them to charge the "market rate" for shipping, instead of the rate offerred to customers that have an account, or those who ship more. So, either they need to get an account, which would lower their rates at least a little bit, or they should investigate the USPS as a last resort. The note about Ground service also applies here.

Exception: Newegg.com
Newegg.com has very reasonable shipping. On most small orders, you can get FedEx two day service to Alaska for $25 to $30. Nice when you're ordering a $60 hard drive and you have to have it soon. And when you are ordering lots of small items, it starts at about $25, and doesn't go up too much with each small item. Larger items (computer cases, etc) cause shipping to climb a little faster. There are also a couple other companies out there that offer free or low cost shipping to Alaska, but I don't recall their names right now. I'll find them and put them in another post.

Exception: Christian Book Distributors
They use USPS almost exclusively, and their shipping rates are often so low that, even with shipping, they're cheaper than buying locally.

So, yeah, shipping to Alaska is a pain. Royal, big, Alaska size pain at time. I look forward to seeing how Izzy's story turns out.

Of course, my complaint in the above mentioned case isn't so much about the shipping, which, though atrocious, I have sort of gotten used to, but about a) the fact that I wasn't informed up front about the additional charges, and that b) the fact that they first said they'd ship for free (website) then said they'd charge an $18 fee, then said that they couldn't ship it up here at all because it was fragile, then turned around and shipped it, and had the audacity to claim I never canceled the order to boot! Course, the point remains- getting people to ship up here for a reasonable cost is rather difficult

For merchants that don't ship to Alaska, or only use UPS/FedEx, now you can have your package shipped to http:/www.AlohaForwarding.com and they will forward your package to you using Priority Mail. There's even a shipping calculator to give you an idea how much money you'll save. It doesn't cost anything to join, and there's no membership fee.

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